Morgana, a CHORD-containing protein, in tumor onset and progression

Mara Brancaccio

The research group has been working for years to study the role of the protein morgana in physiological and pathological conditions. We identified a dual role of morgana in tumor onset and progression. On the one hand, morgana acts as a tumor suppressor involved in the control of centrosome duplication and genomic stability and its haploinsufficiency causes a myeloproliferative disease similar to atypical chronic myeloid leukemia. On the other hand, we found that morgana is overexpressed in a subset of human cancers where it causes resistance to chemotherapy and induces the formation of metastases, acting as an oncogene. The interest of the group is focused at understanding the molecular mechanisms by which morgana plays this dual role in tumorigenesis and in identifying targeted therapies to prevent its negative effects.